It seems that even though we'll eat Chinese food on our trips, one of the first thing the Missus wants when we return is…..drum roll please, Chinese. Upon returning from our last two trips, the Missus had been wanting to eat at the Noble Chef. It had been over a year since we'd last dined in, so we headed on over.
It was a Saturday just past 530pm on a when we arrived….and holy smokes, the place was humming.
We were lucky to get one of the two tables still available.
Having had the food from Noble Chef so many times, it was a regular stop for us during the pandemic and the Missus has some dishes that She enjoys. So, the basic ordering was easy and we decided to try one dish that we hadn't ordered before.
Of course we started with the Roast Duck, which was a take out favorite of ours, but we hadn't enjoyed as much during our last dine in visit.
Well, this was much more meaty than we recalled and the skin a bit more chewy. In terms of seasoning it was good. The leftovers did much better as we got more sauce and I heated it in the air fryer.
The Salt and Pepper Pork Chops here are a favorite of mine.
These were crisp, though a bit thicker than we prefer. Nicely seasoned, good salt, mild spice.
A favorite of the Missus is the Salted Fish and Chicken with Eggplant.
Nice funkiness, good sodium control, but the eggplant was on the stringy side and undercooked for our taste.
For some reason, the Missus ordered the Hunan Seafood. As I figured, this really wasn't "Hunan".
The seafood was nicely stir fried; the shrimp was especially tender and buttery. The dish was quite bland and had barely any spice and the vermicelli noodles were mushy.
Another favorite of mine is the Soy Sauce Chow Mien. Man, this was a huge portion.
This was unevenly stir fried and not all the noodles were coated well. Some of the noodles were undercooked and hard.
The Missus enjoyed the dessert as always.
Well, not a particularly stellar meal. Still, we decided to give Noble Chef another shot when returning from our last trip.
This time the Missus went with the Salted Fish and Chicken with Tofu.
This was quite good, the funky flavors of salted fish came thru clearly; the tofu was soft and velvety, the dish was quite savory, though not overly salty. I think this is what the Missus will be ordering from now on.
Of course we got the roast duck again.
This was on the bland side and the duck didn't have enough sauce. That was quickly remedied by request. The skin was on the tougher side as well. Looks like we'll have to look for other options for roast duck!
We also got the Seafood XO Sauce Fried Rice. When the dish arrived, we quickly took a look, and the question was raised; "where was the XO sauce"?
There was a good quantity of shrimp in this; though the rice wasn't evenly coated, nor was there a detectable hint of the pungent, fragrant, umami-forward XO Sauce in this dish. Pass on this….
I decided to get the Black Pepper Pork Intestine.
I really enjoyed the pungent-offaly-salty flavor and the toothsome texture of the intestine. The Missus thought this to be too sweet, but I enjoyed it.
The Salt and Pepper Pork Chops were even better this time around.
Thinner, crisper, more evenly seasoned. This is how I remembered the pork chops being in the good 'ole days.
So, what's the takeaway? Well, I guess YMMV here; though the prices were decent for this day and age; the pork chops and duck does well in our air fryer as leftovers. The service was very nice on both visits. So, I guess we will be back; unless we can find something better in the area? Let me know if you have any recommendations!
The Noble Chef
6159 Balboa Avenue
San Diego, CA 92111
Yes, that's what the plate looked like. Man, those…in very loose quotes "won ton" were like a cardboard gau gee, time didn't do the wrapper any favors as it was quite chewy.
The chicken wings were still a crisp-crunchy when I got back to the office, but had way too much MSG and had me gulping down water in no time at all.
It seems that I had a "shift" in the tomatoes on the drive back to the office. I was just happy to have tomatoes on my dog which were MIA on my last visit. The fries, which were crisp on my last two visits, were soggy and dry this time around; though I kinda liked the pieces that had celery salt on them.
All the chicken, both the karaage and the wings were nice and crisp and very moist; nicely seasoned, a hint of soy, but not overly salty. The best I've had from Tenkatori thus far.
Decades ago, this location was the first restaurant where The Mister and I had Dim Sum (carts and all). The area at the front door had a window counter display case of roast ducks and roast pork; we would stop here for some roasted treats to take home if not going to Woo Chee Chong down the street.
Fried squid appetizer ($8.99). This came out last and was freshly fried to a nice, light crunch, not oily and was an excellent version, with garlic and peppers. This could have been my meal, but we shared.
House Special Pan Fried Rice Noodle ($17.95). Beef, pork, chicken, vegetables, egg, rice noodles all stir fried with a smoky wok hey comfort flavor. A nice plate that we enjoyed.
Combination Platter-Choice of Two roasted meats from the window display at the back of the eating area ($19.95). Roast duck and roast pork belly. Juicy, fatty, crisp skin with moist, flavorful, meaty goodness. Enough left over for a nice dinner. 
Prices are in line with other Cantonese style restaurants. Quality is great. Service is excellent. We will try again.
See-the hanging ducks and pork are back in the corner display case.
The skin on the Roast Pork was slightly crisp, but the flavor was way too sweet and the flesh was too hard and chewy. The skin on the roast duck wasn't bad, the fat had been rendered nicely, unfortunately this too was quite bland and tough.
The noodles were the same as the NRM. The duck was much better this time around; you can tell by the color, there as much more five spice flavor and the meat, while on the tough side had taste. The skin was still a bit rubbery for my taste, but the fat had been rendered nicely. This was a definite improvement.
The former movie theater, now a Vietnamese Market, with the Cantonese restaurant in the former lobby has survived Covid-19. 
From the small Dim Sum menu, we ordered XLB-soup dumplings ($6.38). A nice bite and, as you can see, not quite perfect, but no soup was actually lost because of the creative steaming system.
From the 'appetizer' portion of the menu, we ordered the 'Double Delicacy' ($19.95) because we couldn't decide on roasted pork or roasted duck and this was a way to get both (there were leftovers) (both of these meats are really good; tender meat, crisp skin, not too salty.).
Lately, Chow Fun fulfills the craving I've been having for noodles. The wide, flat, rice noodles, stir fried to get that smoky 'wok hei' flavor always seems perfect. (This order was shredded pork with preserved vegetable chow fun ($14.95). I enjoy the briny 'pickle-ness' of preserved vegetables in any dish and combined with the smoked noodles, each bite was delightful).
Hot tea is always free. We did have to ask for chopsticks.
I gotta say, that Kwai Fei Chicken was the best I've had in a while. Moist, tender meat, decently seasoned. The sauce, while still high in the oil to ginger, was much better than last time. Really good. Alas, the Missus is not a big fan of Kwai Fei Ji. 
